Saturday evening
2022-1 Welcome
Presiding Clerk Bruce Neumann (Fresh Pond) opened Sessions with a prayer and welcomed Friends to the 362nd annual New England Yearly Meeting Sessions. The Clerk reminded us to be tender with each other and to dwell in the joy opened to us.
The Presiding Clerk introduced the rest of the Clerks’ Table, the tech team, and elders for the evening.
- Recording Clerks: Peter Bishop (Northampton) and Benigno Sánchez-Eppler (Northampton)
- Reading Clerks: Adam Kohrman (Beacon Hill) and Michelle Wright (Putney)
- The Tech Team: David Coletta (Beacon Hill) and Jennifer Higgins-Newman (Beacon Hill)
- Elders: Jacqueline Stillwell (Monadnock), Callid Keefe-Perry (Fresh Pond), and Robert Dove McLellan (Fresh Pond)
Yearly Meeting Secretary Noah Merrill (Putney) introduced the Pastoral Care team for Sessions, Abby Matchette (Burlington) and Elizabeth Szatkowski (Portland). These Friends will be available to respond to a variety of concerns, to sit and listen, and to accompany in prayer those who request it. We were also reminded that everyone at Sessions takes part in the work of pastoral care and spiritual accompaniment.
2022-2 Land Acknowledgement
Fran Putnam (Middlebury) offered the land acknowledgement.
The Friends gathered at Castleton University recognize the Western Abenaki [A-ben-A-kee] as the traditional caretakers of these lands and waters, which they call Ndakinna [in-DAH-kee-NAH], or “homeland,” and which are currently known as Vermont. Friends were asked to remember Native peoples’ connection to this region and the hardships they continue to endure, and to pay respect to the Abenaki Elders and to the Indigenous inhabitants of stolen Turtle Island by taking a moment of silence to reflect and to find something that is rooting us to the place where we are meeting. Friends present on Zoom are joining the gathering from the traditional lands of many other Indigenous peoples.
Don Campbell (Mt. Toby) read a Joint Statement from the Four Vermont State Recognized Abenaki Tribes in Response to Certain Recent Events dated June 6, 2022.
Co-Chief Shirly Hook, Koasek Traditional Band of the Koas Abenaki Nation
Chief Donald Stevens, Nulhegan Band of the Coosuk Abenaki Nation
Chief Roger Longtoe Sheehan, Elnu Abenaki Tribe
The body received the message from the Chiefs in prayerful silence.
2022-3 Roll Call
The Reading Clerks called the name of each monthly meeting by quarters. Friends were invited to stand and wave as their quarters and monthly meetings were named.
First-time attenders and families with new members were welcomed.
Friends in the hall were asked to raise hands or stand, and Friends on Zoom to turn on their cameras and wave, if they had been to: five or more Sessions, ten or more, fifteen or more, and so on. By the time we got to those few who had attended 55 or 60 times, we celebrated in awe.
2022-4 What is on Your Name Tag?
Phil Veatch (Fresh Pond), clerk of Sessions Planning, described the important information found on the backs of our name tags. He also spoke about the two bookstores and the Coffee Cottage. He invited Friends in the hall and on Zoom to do everything that will be done this week with the sense of ministry, and to keep in mind how everything we are doing is an expression of faith.
2022-5 Bringing Our Rock to Worship
In advance of Sessions, Kristina Keefe-Perry (Fresh Pond) had asked a few Friends to bring rocks from different parts of the Yearly Meeting. Friends at Castleton were asked to decorate those rocks with something about our own gifts and to bring them to the intergenerational worship called for Sunday morning at the Pavilion. Friends on Zoom were invited to stay open to creative adaptations of the suggested activities to the home setting. We were asked to think about the foundation on which we build our community.
2022-6 Message from the Outgoing Children and Family Ministries Coordinator
Gretchen Baker-Smith (Westport) spoke to the Yearly Meeting. This is her last summer serving as Children and Family Ministries Coordinator. Sad as it is to see her go, there is great joy in the celebration of her long and faithful service.
Gretchen spoke about ministry and gifts, about how clearly she heard the call to lead the JHYM program, about being open to discern and do the will of God even when it didn’t look anything like what she intended. She accepted the Yearly Meeting’s gratitude and did not shrink from owning her leadership role, though she reminded us that leadership is not the only work of ministry that the group needs. It takes all of us. We are the ones, she reminded us, that bring to this community what the Spirit has in store for us.
“If you are a rock,” she asked, “what are you going to build on that foundation?”
2022-7 Song for Betty Ann Lee
Kara Price (Storrs), our new Children and Family Ministries Coordinator, led us in a song in honor of Betty Ann Lee (Westport). Betty Ann was our beloved Sessions Coordinator for the Junior Yearly Meeting (JYM) program for many years.
2022-8 Youth Leave to Their Programs
Kenzie Burpee (Wellesley), our recently appointed JYM Sessions Coordinator, introduced the leaders of the children’s and Young Friends’ programs, and each in turn introduced their program’s staff before they left the room, followed by the children and Young Friends.
2022-9 Minute of Record About Preparations Before the Start of Sessions
New England Yearly Meeting has taken on the significant challenge of holding its Annual Sessions united in a hybrid format, with many attending the gathering at Castleton University and many present on Zoom.
On Friday afternoon, before the official opening of the 362nd Annual Sessions, staff, clerks, and large numbers of technical support and other volunteers met in the hall and on Zoom for a thorough rehearsal. The exercise was blessed with both success and challenges that could be identified and resolved.
Friends have expressed gratitude for all the foresight and faithfulness that will make this hybrid gathering possible, and are prepared to be tender with each other for whatever difficulties we may experience.
2022-10 Remembering Those Not Here
Before closing worship, Friends were invited to say the names of Friends who were unable to be present for whatever reason.
The desire to be a group together again could be heard in the long list that rose out of worship naming Friends who were missed by those gathered: beloved individuals, couples, whole families, and the Cuban Friends not permitted to travel to the United States. A Friend reminded us that some of those named might be fully present on Zoom, and even so the depth of affect in the voices bringing forth the names clearly expressed our yearning to be even more present to and for each other.
Sunday Morning
2022-11 Pools, Stones, and Prayers
Friends gathered for intergenerational worship in the round under the Castleton Pavilion and in the gallery of rectangles on Zoom.
Kristina Keefe-Perry (Fresh Pond), with help from young friends Sage, Conifer, Oscar, and Nahar, led Friends in singing Open My Heart and presented us with two queries: How does the Spirit find you? What big feelings are you experiencing that must be shared?
Friends in the Pavilion and at home wrote their feelings of grief on tissue paper, and words of balm onto gold foil. These were placed in pools of water set around the Pavilion and then drawn out to make collages of prayer. The canvases will be on display in the Fine Arts Center, and Friends may add to them throughout Sessions.
2022-12 Transition to Bible Half-Hour
After the children went to their respective programs, Friends in Castleton took a prayerful 10-minute walk from the Pavilion to the Fine Arts Center auditorium. Many of those present on Zoom also held the shift from intergenerational worship to Bible Half-Hour in silence.
2022-13 Introduction of Bible Half-Hour Speaker and Elders
Jennifer Higgins-Newman (Beacon Hill) introduced our Bible Half-Hour speaker, Regina Renee (Ward) Nyégbeh, as a Christian Friend for whom the Bible is not just a foundational document for our faith tradition, but a guide to daily living. Regina Renee joined us by videoconference.
Regina Renee works as a librarian and has taught in public schools. She is passionate about social justice, intellectual freedom, reading, and building community. Her work with Friends and racial healing was born at the intersections of life both as a woman of African descent and a Christian Quaker. She is the clerk of Ujima Friends Meeting.
L. V. M. Shelton (Plainfield), Lee Andrew (Ujima Friends Meeting), Polly Washburn (Intermountain YM), Jennifer Higgins-Newman (Beacon Hill), and Ryan Higgins-Newman (Beacon Hill) were present as her elders.
Regina Renee pointed out how speaking slowly and clearly would help the Spanish interpreters and she reminded us of the term “language justice.”
She opened by offering a very clear road map for the message she had been given for NEYM Sessions. Her timely and constant reminder using the Sessions’ theme provided a clear focus on the urgency of the work of listening, transformation, and engagement.
Each day, she finished her presentation by seeding our waiting worship with queries, all framed by the urgent reminder: “This is the hour … How does the Spirit find you?”
Recordings of the Bible Half-Hour presentations will be available on the NEYM website.
Sunday Evening
2022-14 Welcome and Introductions
Presiding Clerk Bruce Neumann (Fresh Pond) welcomed those present in the hall and on Zoom. He again introduced the rest of the Clerks’ Table, and our lead tech person, David Coletta (Fresh Pond and Three Rivers), who introduced the rest of the tech team: Becky Ray (Beacon Hill), Bob O’Connor (Vassalboro), Bre-anne Brown (East Sandwich), Cornelia Parkes (Cambridge), Emily Neumann (Cambridge), Jan Nisenbaum, (Cambridge), Jennifer Higgins-Newman (Beacon Hill), and Jennifer Swann (S. Berkshire).
The Clerk also introduced the Rising Clerk, Rebecca Leuchak (Providence), and the Interpretation Team: Mary Hopkins (Fresh Pond), Judy Goldberger (Beacon Hill), Richard Lindo (Framingham), Chris Jorgensen (Cambridge), Maggie Fogarty (Dover), and Abigail Adams (Storrs).
Through the week the following Friends served as elders for our business sessions: Richard Lindo (Framingham), Callid Keefe-Perry (Fresh Pond/Three Rivers), Jackie Stillwell (Monadnock), Maggie Edmonson (Winthrop Ctr), Kathy Olsen (E. Sandwich), Karen Sánchez-Eppler (Northampton), Janet Hough (Cobscook), Kristna Evans (Durham), Fran Brokaw (Hanover), Robert Dove McClellan (Fresh Pond), Mary Chenaille (Worcester), Ben Warner (Cambridge), Hannah Zwirner-Forsythe (Beacon Hill), and Wendy Schlotterbeck (Durham).
2022-15 Approval of Acting Recording Clerk
The Clerk presented the name of Benigno Sánchez-Eppler as the acting second Recording Clerk for this year’s Sessions. Friends approved.
2022-16 Introduction to Noticing Patterns
Polly Attwood (Cambridge) introduced the function of the Noticing Patterns of Oppression and Faithfulness Working Group, and invited Friends at any time to interrupt harmful behavior.
The Group is committed to observe, name, and reflect back to the body long-standing patterns and practices, unseen by many but long seen by others, that result in our complicity in oppression. Equally, they are called to lift up patterns of faithfulness and practices that move us further into being a Spirit-led community.
This year in business meetings all Friends are invited to share what they are noticing, or ask for a time of noticing. The Clerk will also call for noticings as he is led.
Polly reminded us to use the prompts: I feel; I hear; I see; I wonder; I know. In our hybrid space, sharing our “noticings” can bring us together and hold as a body how we are experiencing our community.
Members of the working group are available in person and via Zoom for questions, support, and discernment for all engaging in this process: Polly Attwood, clerk; Melody Brazo (Fresh Pond), Melissa Foster (Framingham), Lisa Graustein (Three Rivers Worship Group), Janet Hough (Cobscook), Becky Jones (Northampton), Anna Lindo (Framingham), Richard Lindo (Framingham), Heidi Nortonsmith (Northampton), L. V. M. Shelton (Plainfield), Pamela Terrien (Westport).
2022-17 Welcome Visitors
Through the week the following visitors and representatives for other organizations were welcomed and invited to introduce themselves:
Heidi Babb, Woolman Hill Conference Center
Jessica Bahena, Friends Committee on National Legislation
Cliff Bennett (Plainfield), Quakers Advocating Justice for Palestine, Quaker Palestine Israel Network
Peter Blood-Patterson (Mt. Toby), Quaker Spring
Fran Brokaw (Hanover), clerk of the Pendle Hill Board
Hilary Burgin (Beacon Hill), Quaker Voluntary Service
Lilly Campbell (Beacon Hill), Beacon Hill Friends House
Minga Claggett-Borne (Cambridge), Friends Peace Teams
Kerri Clough, Cork, Ireland
Emma Condori-Mamani, Quaker Religious Education Cooperative, Friends International Bilingual Center, La Paz, Holiness YM, Bolivia
Kirenia Criado, Havana Monthly Meeting, Cuba Yearly Meeting
Sarah Freeman-Woolpert (Concord), Friends Committee on National Legislation
Audrey Greenhall, French General Conference, Quaker Books, and Quaker Press Manager
Keith Harvey (Cambridge), American Friend Service Committee
Mary Lou Hatcher, Lehigh Valley Monthly Meeting, PhYM, attending North Sandwich
Sara Gada, Friends Publishing Corporation
Jennifer Higgins-Newman (Beacon Hill), Beacon Hill Friends House
Nikki Holland (West Richmond, IN; New Association of Friends), Friends United Meeting
Brian, Caleb, Isaac, and Joshua Holland (West Richmond, IN; New Association of Friends), Belize Friends
Angela Hopkins, New York YM, attending Northampton Friends Meeting
Megan Jensen (Monadnock), Sun Moon Farm, Rindge, NH
Emma Kay, Brooklyn Friends Meeting, New York YM
Kelly Kellum, (High Point Friends Meeting, NC; independent), Friends United Meeting
Noah Litu Kellum, Chavakali Yearly Meeting of Friends Church, Kenya, studying at Earlham School of Religion
Nils Klinkenberg (Beacon Hill), Beacon Hill Friends House
Carolyne Lamar Jordan, Quaker United Nations Office, New York
Jessica Lana, Friends Committee on National Legislation
Mary Link (Mt Toby), NEYM Legacy Gift Committee
Skye (Caitlin) McQuilken, Rochester Friends Meeting, New York YM
Lyle Miller (Goshen, IN), representing Everence
Judith Nandikove, Quaker Religious Education Collaborative and Nairobi YM
Anne Pomeroy, New Paltz Monthly Meeting, New York YM
Emily Provance, 15th St Monthly Meeting, New York YM
Nicole Santos, Friends Committee on National Legislation
Laura Sawyer, Young Friends Resource Person
Skip Schiel (Cambridge), Quakers Advocating Justice for Palestine
Earl Smith, Stillwater Friends Meeting, Ohio YM
Matt Southworth (Hartford), Friends Committee on National Legislation
Jacqueline Stillwell (Monadnock), Right Sharing of World Resources
Ken Stockbridge, Patapsco Friends Meeting, Baltimore YM
Phil Stone, Clearwater, Florida, Southeastern YM
Jonathan Vogel-Borne (Cambridge), Friends Peace Teams
Donn Weinholtz (Hartford), Friends Association for Higher Education
Pamela Williams, Germantown Monthly Meeting, Philadelphia YM
Liz Yeats, Friends Meeting of Austin, South Central YM
2022-18 Budget Proposal
Scot Drysdale (Hanover), clerk of NEYM Finance Committee, presented the proposed NEYM budget for FY 2022–23 included in the Advance Documents, and explained the particulars of the six footnoted items.
Friends were invited to bring their concerns about the budget to a Finance Committee listening session on Monday.
2022-19 Noticings
The Clerk opened a period for noticing.
A Friend wondered …
how Friends get recognized to speak from the floor of the business meeting.
Friends noticed …
faithfulness in the presentation of work in the Advance Documents.
faithful production of the recorded Advance Documents.
faithful provision of stipend for volunteers who work for Yearly Meeting many hours in which they cannot earn money they would need.
A Friend suggested …
noticings don’t all require a response from the Clerk.
This was our first opportunity to try to practice noticings as a body and in the middle of discernment.
2022-20 Faith and Practice Revision Committee
Phebe McCosker (Hanover) presented the Faith and Practice Revision Committee’s draft chapter on marriage, which will come back on Wednesday for preliminary approval.
The committee has revised the chapter, keeping in mind the responses it has received since 2019.
In comments from the monthly meetings, the committee had been asked to include more about sexuality, and discerned that the marriage chapter would only address sexuality as it is manifested in a marriage. A fuller discussion of sexuality will appear in the section on “Living a Faithful Life,” currently under development. Divorce will also be part of “Living a Faithful Life,” rather than in the chapter on marriage.
There was a strong feeling that the chapter should do more to emphasize marriage under the care of the meeting, and marriage as a leading of the Spirit the couple feels and lives into.
Several monthly meetings also asked for guidance on how to address requests for marriage under the care of the meeting that fall outside of what is described in our Faith and Practice. Our calling is to name where the Yearly Meeting is at this time, while still being guided in discernment by the movement of the Spirit, even as social norms related to sexuality and marriage continue to change over time.
Friends were encouraged to attend the listening session during Sessions. The chapter on marriage will come back for preliminary approval toward the end of the week.
2022-21 Nominating
Jackie Stillwell (Monadnock) invited everyone to take a deep breath, then spoke about living into the new Purpose, Procedures, and Composition for the Nominating Committee.
There has been a shift in the focus of their work towards visioning and identifying what’s needed, noticing what’s working and not working, naming and nurturing gifts, and raising up new leadership beyond the people who are already known.
Jackie pointed to open opportunities on the nominating slate. The Committee continues to identify barriers to service and to the full expression of individual gifts, and endeavors to find ways to overcome those barriers. Their efforts include writing a job description for each opportunity of service, with the gifts and the skills that they are hoping will rise up to meet the need. Jackie invited all Sessions participants to consider whether they are interested in serving on a committee. The Yearly Meeting needs people who are creative and can think together. The Nominating clerk can be reached via email at [email protected].
Jackie raised the name of Megan Jensen (Monadnock) for Recording Clerk, to begin next year. Her name will come back for approval on Wednesday afternoon.
2022-22 Unity Agenda
The Clerk referred to the components of the Unity Agenda included in the Advance Documents and asked whether any of the items required separate consideration. Hearing no request for separate discernment, the Clerk proceeded to ask for approval and acceptance of the items listed below:
- Approval of Bank Resolutions (see page 28)
- Approval of Minute to Authorize Edits and Corrections (see page 28)
- Approval of Sessions Planning Purposes, Procedures, and Composition (see page 28)
- Acceptance of board, committee, and representative reports (see page 47)
- Acceptance of Memorial Minutes (as prepared by monthly meetings, and reviewed and approved by quarterly meetings and the Permanent Board) (see page 66)
Friends approved the Unity Agenda.
Monday Morning
2022-23 Epistle from Canada Yearly Meeting
Friends heard the epistle from Canada Yearly Meeting, which met under the weight of recent disclosures about death and ill-treatment of Indigenous children in residential schools. Canadian Friends reconsidered to what extent Quaker practices contribute to patriarchy, colonialism, and violence, and expressed that if our Quaker practices do not transform us, we cannot transform the world.
2022-24 Report on Middlebury Monthly Meeting’s Response to the Call to Urgent, Loving Action for the Earth and Her Inhabitants
Ruah Swennerfelt (Middlebury) reported on her meeting’s actions over the past year. They have purchased a solar array for the Clemens Family Farm, a Black-owned center that promotes Black artists; and also supported the Pollinator Pathways Project, creating a corridor of gardens for pollinators that travel long distances. This work is a lifelong undertaking that requires prayer and faithfulness.
2022-25 Report on New Haven Monthly Meeting’s Response to the Call to Urgent, Loving Action for the Earth and Her Inhabitants
Kim Stoner (New Haven) told us about her meeting’s work supporting businesses that are Black-owned or serve a primarily Black community and are involved with issues related to climate change. They have supported Friends of Kensington Park, Gather New Haven, Emerge, and Solar Youth in projects around the city.
Because the meetinghouse was closed during the pandemic, the meeting was blessed with large contributions to support these projects. It is unclear how much money will be available next year.
2022-26 Permanent Board Report
Preparing to present a series of reports and recommendations from the Permanent Board, Leslie Manning (Durham) read from Faith and Practice to remind us to draw on our experience of worship to find unity not just with each other, but with the divine will.
2022-27 Recommendation from Permanent Board to Lay Down the Development Committee
The Permanent Board recommended the laying down of the Development Committee. We give thanks for those who have served on this committee, and realize that much of the ongoing annual work of development is best accomplished by staff, with regular input from Friends with specific knowledge and experience. An ad hoc Development Advisory Group has been established to consult with staff as needed. This group does not require nominations, and the Permanent Board will work closely with our Yearly Meeting Secretary for appointments to this group.
Friends approved laying down the Development Committee.
2022-28 Recommendation from Permanent Board to Lay Down the Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Committee
Permanent Board also recommended laying down the Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Committee (RSEJ), with our thanks to the many who have served over the years. The Permanent Board considered that in recent years, as the Yearly Meeting has engaged more deeply and widely in understanding our complicity in structural racism and how we can work to challenge it, we are doing more of this work at every level of Yearly Meeting discernment, and at the local monthly meeting and individual level.
One of the functions of RSEJ over the years has been the distribution of scholarships to African American students from the Freedmen’s Fund. A new procedure has been developed by the Permanent Board for the management and transfer of these funds. This procedure directs the Yearly Meeting Treasurer to distribute the available income in the Freedman’s Fund to four historically Black colleges and universities in the southern United States that have schools of education.
A Friend who had served on RSEJ for many years spoke with great passion about his pain at the thought of the committee being laid down. Other Friends also expressed strong and heartfelt opposition to laying it down. We heard how RSEJ had been one place committed to addressing racism when most of NEYM was not, and heard that some Friends of Color had found support within RSEJ. The Clerk determined that we are not in unity with the recommendation of the Permanent Board.
The Clerk suggested that Friends interested in working on racial justice concerns contact the nominating committee.
2022-29 Noticings
Friends noticed …
a profound restlessness in the gathering faced with the expressions of pain by an African-American Friend.
individual love and concern for the distressed Friend, but also expressions of frustration and the desire to move on.
that more understanding is needed.
Plenary, Monday afternoon
2022-30 Plenary Speaker
Nia Thomas (Northampton) introduced the plenary speaker. Emily Provance (15th St Meeting, New York YM) travels widely in the ministry, carrying a concern for intergenerational activities that sustain community. Many Friends in New England are familiar with Emily through her attendance at previous Annual Sessions, her blog, or her Beacon Hill Friends House Weed lecture.
Playful and serious at the same time, Emily used fairy tales, songs, and stories from the Bible to explore themes of love, fear, goodness, and mercy. She led Friends of all ages to struggle with questions, to unravel difficulties, and to enjoy the fellowship of joint discovery.
The Bible, she pointed out, tells us that we are forgiven not because we deserve it, but because God is merciful. “Not only am I worthy of forgiveness no matter what I do, but my sibling is also worthy of my forgiveness no matter what they do.”
She closed by bringing to our attention the context for the theme of this year’s Sessions, Mary Dyer’s words on the way to her execution:
This is to me the hour of greatest joy I ever had in this world. No ear can hear, no tongue can utter, and no heart can understand the sweet incomes and the refreshings of the spirit of the Lord, which I now feel.
Emily asked us: Can we find joy in granting mercy, even when we would rather do otherwise? She sent us into the rest of the week with her blessings and with the charge to find joy wherever we may be.
Tuesday Morning
2022-31 Epistle from Uganda Friends Church (Quakers)
Ugandan Friends prayed: “Let us draw near to God with sincere hearts, fully trusting in Him” (Hebrews 10:22). They recognized the blessings of living and having to care for a fragile ecosystem, and discussed the Christian family, environmental conservation, the generation gap, AIDS, COVID-19, stewardship, and finance. They thanked God for the message sent to them through Marian Baker (Weare/Henniker) who spoke about the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well as one of the first Gospel ministers carrying the Good News to her own people.
After the reading of the Epistle, Reading Clerks reminded us to keep Kenya in our prayers as they hold national elections today.
2022-32 Appreciation for the Tech Team
The Clerk spoke about difficulties with electronic communications experienced at the beginning of the business meeting, and of the loving and effective work of the tech team that brought us back online. The Clerk also thanked the Spirit for the message given through Regina Renee (Ward) Nyégbeh about Spiritual Speed Limits, which he felt especially moved to practice.
2022-33 Report from the Noticing Patterns of Oppression and Faithfulness Working Group
Members of the Noticing Patterns Working Group spoke after they held a meeting to carefully consider what they had noticed during Monday’s sessions regarding the laying down of the Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Committee.
They noticed that we heard powerful words of pain, but we did not pause to take in what had been said and did not honor the pain nor the experiences that were shared. By not stopping to listen, we erased a Friend and invalidated the trust.
The Working Group, meeting with more time, was able to perceive that we as a body were harmed beyond anyone’s individual experience of the pain.
They felt grateful for Regina Renee (Ward) Nyégbeh’s faithfulness in noticing and speaking to the pattern of not listening.
They asked: Can we let love be the first motion? Can our relationships with individuals and communities ground our work allowing us to be God’s hands and feet?
They advised: Attend to the feelings that these noticings lift up in you, and hold these noticing now in silence; later, as the rest of the day is given, talk with each other about how you feel them.
2022-34 Report of Ministry of Briana Halliwell
Briana Halliwell (Vassalboro) spoke to Friends about her ministry, which is supported by the Legacy Gift Fund.
Her ministry began with a dream in which Great Spirit, in the form of a silhouette of Jesus Christ, told her, “Love all there is to love, be all there is to be, so that truth may come.”
Righteous anger after the murder of George Floyd led her to go to the front lines to protect Black protesters from white counter-protesters, and in that experience she realized that human rage does not accomplish what God desires. Since then she has tried to dismantle her internalized patterns of oppression. Last fall she applied for a Legacy Gift grant to become a sanctified minister and follow the ever-evolving call from God.
Spiritual encounters with animals have helped her become a clear channel of communication between humans and the more-than-human beings with whom we share the Earth.
Itinerant ministers are driven by the Spirit across the landscape, and her ministry in its current form involves living in a tiny house in the form of a converted school bus and taking her ministry on the road. Briana testified that Christ calls her to love, protect, and serve the oppressed with the ferocity of a lion and the gentleness of the lamb, to resist Empire, and to surrender to the promptings of the Spirit with absolute trust in God.
2022-35 Report on the Distribution of the Letter of Apology to Native Americans
Andrew Grant (Mt Toby), Don Campbell (Mt Toby), Suzanna Schell (Beacon Hill), Kim West (Cambridge), and Sara Smith (Concord), members of the Right Relationship Working Group; together with Jonathan Vogel-Borne and Minga Claggett-Borne (both of Cambridge) for Friends Peace Teams talked about the process of disseminating the Apology to Native Americans approved at Sessions last year. After sharing a poem by Abigail Echo-Hawk, the Apology was read aloud.
Distributing the letter began with compiling a list of local and regional Native groups. When the letter was sent out, the hope was that it might be a way to establish relationship where so far there has been none.
Correspondence received in reply felt like a holy opening.
With the distribution of the Apology, the Right Relationship Working Group has completed this stage of its work on behalf of the Yearly Meeting. They called on the Permanent Board to continue the work of relationship building, and left us with the question: What does justice require of us?
2022-36 Suggested Action Items from Friends Peace Teams
Jonathan Vogel-Borne and Friends Peace Teams representative Minga Claggett-Borne suggested a number of actions related to Quaker involvement in the Indian Boarding Schools. The actions originate in a request from Deborah Haaland, Indigenous leader and U.S. Secretary of the Interior, to religious institutions which were involved in Indian Boarding Schools. The actions will continue and expand the work related to the NEYM Apology to Native Americans (Minute 2021-80). The proposal included eight major tasks to act on:
- To undertake a thorough and comprehensive review of our own records
- To determine the amount of financial and material support NEYM contributed
- To identify graveyards where Native children may have been buried
- To publish a report
- To determine the value, in current dollars, of the money received from the federal government to operate the boarding schools
- To apologize to the tribes and nations affected by our actions
- To urge Congress to pass the “Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the U.S. Act” (H.R. 5444 and S.2907)
- To fund tribal programs for Native language instruction and revitalization
The minute was approved in two parts:
Friends request that the Presiding Clerk notify monthly meetings about H.R. 5444 and S.2907 (A bill to establish the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies), and suggest that individuals write their Senators and Congresspeople to encourage them to co-sponsor and support passage of these bills.
Friends approved, and charged the Presiding Clerk to include this request with the Sessions summary sent to monthly meetings.
Friends also ask the Permanent Board to begin the process of researching New England Quakers’ involvement with Indian Boarding Schools, and to do this in consultation with the Archives Committee and the Right Relationship Resource Group. We recognize that this research may happen in stages, may require funding from sources other than our operating budget, and may benefit from widespread input from around the Yearly Meeting. It is hoped that the Permanent Board may report back on progress and findings at Annual Sessions 2023.
Acknowledging concerns expressed on the floor about asking the Permanent Board to shepherd the work of the Yearly Meeting, the Clerk senses that the meeting endorses engagement with the work as delineated, and that the minute is approved.
The Clerk clarified that the Permanent Board’s involvement with the work does not preclude action by monthly meetings or individuals. The task given to the Board is to coordinate a research project of unknown magnitude, but the work of building relationships with Native groups is necessarily local and there is no reason to wait for the Permanent Board to do their part before acting at a local level.
The National Native American Boarding School Healing Project is one of many resources available through which Friends can listen to and learn from Native voices.
Tuesday Afternoon
2022-37 Presentation About Belize City Friends Center
Nikki Holland (West Richmond, IN) spoke about her work with Quakers in Belize. The Belize City Friends Center (a ministry of FUM) has a church and a remedial school which equips students to face a high-stakes standardized test and also addresses their spiritual, physical, and mental health needs.
The church started with Belize Friends who became Quakers in Scotland and then came back looking for a meeting. It is a youth church, with kids involved in every aspect of running it. Eight young Friends so far have taken a membership class and become members. One of them founded AVP Belize.
Their community center is very small, which means they can respond quickly to needs like a food-relief package program, a human trafficking awareness program, and tutoring offered when schools were closed during the pandemic. It provides a safe space for youth who might be vulnerable elsewhere.
Nikki is finishing her first three-year term and starting her second. In these next three years, she hopes to see enrollment in the school increase and for the school to get a computer lab, and also for members of the church to continue discerning what it means to be a Belizean Quaker.
Friends can support the Belize City Friends Center with donations of money, with prayers, and with encouraging emails and postcards.
2022-38 Report from Friends United Meeting Board Representatives
NEYM’s representatives to the Friends United Meeting (FUM) Board, Frederick Martin (Beacon Hill), Jennifer Smith (Concord), and Kristina Keefe-Perry (Fresh Pond), spoke about FUM and our relationship with this organization.
They reminded us that most Quakers in the world are FUM Quakers in Africa, as well as in North America, the Caribbean, and Palestine. Ramallah Friends School is an important educational institution in Palestine. Quaker missionaries in Africa brought values like peacemaking and gender equity that were not typical of other denominations. FUM’s work today includes repairing a Friends school damaged by fire in one of the largest slums on the continent of Africa, and organizing peace work through the Friends Peace Teams Project to establish a nonviolent presence during the elections happening in Kenya.
They reminded us that in last year’s Sessions, in response to continued concerns about the sexual ethics portion of FUM’s personnel policy, we established the Bodine-Rustin Fund, as well as a mechanism which allows monthly meetings to divert monies to that fund which would otherwise go to FUM. Last year’s Sessions also directed the Clerk to write to the FUM Board, expressing our continued concern with the sexual ethics portion of FUM’s personnel policy.
Following up on that letter, NEYM’s Board Representatives and our outgoing and rising Presiding Clerks, recently met with the Clerk, Assistant Clerk, and General Secretary of the FUM Board. While there was no immediate outcome from this meeting, trust was built and this group expects to meet again, including a wider variety of FUM Friends.
They concluded by inviting all of us to attend the next FUM triennial, to be held in 2023 in Nakuru, Kenya.
2022-39
A Friend observed that the reports about the work of FUM were presented by white Friends. She wondered if there might be an opportunity to hear directly from Friends from Bolivia and Kenya, who are with us at Sessions. She further asked us not to compare Indian Boarding Schools to any other institution, which has happened on at least two occasions.
2022-40 Report and Recommendation on the Continuing Attention to Spiritual Life and Ministry
Noah Merrill (Putney), Yearly Meeting Secretary; and Jeremiah Dickinson (Dover), Interim Clerk of Ministry and Council, started the report on the continuing attention to spiritual life and ministry by presenting a PowerPoint summary of the detailed information in the Advance Documents.
The Permanent Board has reviewed and united with these recommendations.
After the presentation, the Clerk brought to the gathering the opportunity to unite with the following:
Continuing the season of experimental discernment for three more years, noting that the formal structure of the Committee on Ministry and Counsel would continue to be temporarily set aside while these recommended steps are put into place and further discernment can continue. This experiment will continue to be under the oversight of the Permanent Board and the Spiritual Life Listening Group.
Friends approved.
The establishment of a Meeting Accompaniment Group as described in the Purposes, Procedures, and Composition (see page 28)
With a concern expressed that there be broad geographic representation, Friends approved.
The Purposes, Procedures, and Composition document for a Meeting Accompaniment Group (see page 28)
Friends approved.
Asking that the Permanent Board be charged, as time and energy allow, with undertaking a review of the function of quarterly meetings historically and at present, in consultation with the clerks of the eight quarterly meetings (and with quarterly meeting ministry and counsel bodies or relevant equivalents, where applicable)
Friends approved.
The Clerk asked whether Friends affirmed the following, which would be shepherded by the Spiritual Life Listening Group:
Convene a meeting for listening
Host opportunities for the wider body of Friends in New England to learn about and celebrate Friends active in public ministry
Offer regular opportunities for prayerful holding of the wider body of Friends in New England, for those led, and invite Friends to this discipline
Encourage opportunities for Friends serving in ministry and eldership to gather as led for “shop talk,” mentoring, mutual accountability, and learning
Increase awareness of (and as able, increase capacity to offer) formal programming to support adult religious education, spiritual formation, and training in Quaker practices and disciplines.
Friends affirmed these five recommendations.
It was suggested and encouraged that all these activities and gatherings be held as hybrid events.
Several Friends expressed concerns about some functions of the Ministry and Counsel Committee which are not addressed in the current, evolving structure. Not having a Ministry and Counsel Committee, without fully knowing what new structure would shepherd the old and emerging functions, is uncomfortable to many. Nevertheless, once we unite on moving forward with “experimental discernment” the Spirit is unlikely to take us back to where we were before.
2022-41 Minute of Appreciation for the McCandlesses’ Founding and Care for the Children and Family Bookstore
Ruah Swennerfelt, on behalf of Friends who have worked at the Children’s Bookstore over the last 20 years, read the following minute of appreciation:
In 2002 Jean McCandless had a leading to open a children’s bookstore outside of the regular bookstore at NEYM Sessions. With the support of her husband Christopher, and the help of their son Jonathan, they brought this leading to life.
Over the last twenty years (excluding the two years of COVID), children, families, and others have found joy, respite, special events, books, and crafts in the Children and Family Bookstore. An ad hoc committee for Families of Children with Special Needs grew from the work of the bookstore. Before the age of the internet, the bookstore distributed First Day School curricula to monthly meetings, many of them written by Jean. Many artists volunteered to be a part of the bookstore, including Annie and Peter Blood-Paterson; Stephan Haynes, who made amazing signs and played music; and at current Sessions, Juliet Wright brought her guitar-playing and songs. Children’s Bookstore volunteers, identified by their starry crowns, brought a lot of joy to many younger Quakers and a lot of older ones, too.
This minute is in appreciation of Jean and Christopher McCandless for their many years of service to our Yearly Meeting.
Friends approved inserting this minute of appreciation in the record of our proceedings.
Wednesday Morning
2022-42 Noticings
Friends noticed …
at times we fall into the false belief that we are responsible for each other’s feelings, when really we are powerless over the feelings and the actions of others (something the Friend learned while living in a difficult relationship). Participating in the ways God is at work changing the world is not the same as thinking of ourselves as the cause or agent of everything that happens.
several times during the week Chronos, the time of the clock, has undermined Kairos, the time of the Spirit. We bent the schedule only when bureaucratic items of business needed to be completed. Being quick to listen should mean a willingness to bend our will to match God’s time. She wondered: “How long, how long must we wait to fall in step with God’s plan for us?”
going over the time allotted for business privileges people who are able to stay: those without children and without physical impediments that require rest from prolonged sitting.
A Friend wondered …
how much of our peace testimony is based on living in the Life and Power that takes away the occasion for war, and how much is based on our fear of conflict? Is this why our Justice testimony is so much weaker than our Peace testimony? How do you negotiate with a person or with a country that’s stealing your land? How do we have peace without justice?
2022-43 Epistle (First Reading)
The Epistle Committee—Jean Rosenberg (Middlebury), Judy Anne Williams (Hanover), and Robert Dove McClellan (Fresh Pond)—read a draft of the epistle for this year’s Sessions. They reminded us that the purpose of the epistle is to give a sense of our condition as we gathered together, how the Spirit moved among us, and where we were guided as a body. It is not a laundry list of events and items of business, but a story of how our relationship with God has been made manifest during this week.
Friends offered a few comments which the writers hope to incorporate before a final reading at the closing celebration.
2022-44 Report from Friends Camp
Camp Director Anna Buller made her report in a video in order to avoid COVID cross-contamination between Camp and Sessions. Through the usual activities of games, singing, swimming, and boating, 440 children and teens engaged in the “ministry of joy.” Joy which was palpable in the one-second-per-day video of Camp activities. Anna spoke also about resilience as a theme which was evident in the way these young Friends set aside the challenges of the past years to create a community which was gathered, committed, and creative. Some themes of Camp this year have been resilience and joy.
2022-45 Permanent Board Recommendations Concerning Salem Quarter’s request
Leslie Manning (Durham) presented two requests from Salem Quarter.
Salem Quarter has declared a Jubilee or Sabbath, suspending many of its organizational functions. The following two items will be addressed as specified.
Salem Quarter grants will be distributed by the Legacy Gift Committee to refresh and restart the Legacy Futures Fund, with a preference given to applicants from the monthly meetings of Salem Quarter.
Salem Quarter’s treasurer, John Robinson, has agreed to stay engaged during the period of Sabbath and will continue to support and advise the Legacy Gift Committee.
Friends approved.
The Permanent Board has agreed to undertake other ministry-and-counsel functions of Salem Quarter, including the approval of travel minutes, laying down meetings, and recording of gifts in ministry.
Friends approved.
2022-46 Return to the Discernment on Racial, Social, and Economic Justice
The Clerk shared his perception that racial justice is much more on people’s minds around the Yearly Meeting than it was even five years ago, and he assured Friends that this work is not being laid aside.
The Clerk reiterated his sense of the meeting from Monday that we do not have unity to lay down Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Committee at this time.
The Clerk reported that a number of people have contacted the Nominating Committee expressing interest in racial justice work. Nominating will have further conversations with each of them to explore their gifts, nature of their interest, and their availability to serve.
The Clerk reported that the Noticing Patterns Working Group approached Coordinating and Advisory in March, observing a need both for a vision for racial justice work and for forms other than Noticing Patterns. Coordinating and Advisory, Nominating, and Permanent Board will all be exploring the question of what structures the Yearly Meeting needs at this time. This is not on any specific timetable, but these conversations will continue. This exploration will be informed by several components.
First, there has been a shift over recent years towards an understanding of the Yearly Meeting as a support for monthly meetings, and less as a cluster of committees like RSEJ doing work on behalf of the Yearly Meeting.
Second, NEYM has begun making increasing use of smaller and often shorter-term groups to undertake specific pieces of work. This way we can engage more Friends who are not able to commit to longtime committee service.
The Clerk observed that no Yearly Meeting committee will ever singlehandedly end the microaggressions and more direct violence that Friends of color experience. The personal growth necessary to reduce this violence happens best in small groups and in monthly meetings where people learn together and can support one another.
The Clerk asked if Friends were comfortable with this plan for how future work will be discerned and conducted.
A Friend offered celebration, noticing both how far we’ve come since a few years ago, when we argued about whether we could use the term “white supremacy,” and that we had a lot more work to do.
She also reminded us of the Quaker pattern of establishing committees with overlapping charges. She supports convening a smaller group of Friends after Sessions to do the logistical work that will align our energies to pursue the desired outcome.
2022-47 The Freedmen’s Fund
One of the responsibilities of the Racial, Social, and Economic Justice Committee has been the distribution of the Freedmen’s Fund. In the absence of an active RSEJ committee, a new procedure was established by the Permanent Board for the management and transfer of these funds. This procedure directs the Yearly Meeting Treasurer to distribute the available income in the Freedman’s Fund to four historically Black colleges which have certified a program in teacher training and education.
Wednesday Afternoon
2022-48 Epistle from Religious Society of Friends in Germany and Austria
We heard the epistle from the Religious Society of Friends in Germany and Austria.
The pandemic has brought the uncertainties of German and Austrian Friends into sharp focus and has upstaged major concerns like injustice, global warming, and the nuclear threat. Their 91st yearly meeting took place under challenging health protocols.
This year, they developed guidelines to protect children and youth in Quaker events from sexualized violence. “Friends can see into the darkness, yet we turn towards the light and let it guide us.”
2022-49 Report from FCNL Representative
Sarah Freeman-Woolpert (Concord) reported on her work with FCNL. Her enthusiasm was compelling. Lobbyists in Washington are making progress on some legislation and have had some recent victories. On the grassroots level, there are 130 Advocacy Teams in 44 states. Friends Place, a Quaker center in Washington, has hosted hundreds of groups and recently has joined with mutual aid networks to host displaced migrants after Texas Governor Greg Abbott began bussing migrants from Texas to DC.
Sarah encouraged Friends to engage with Advocacy Teams, individually or as part of a meeting.
2022-50 Legacy Gift Committee
Mary Link (Mt. Toby) and Sue Rockwood (Midcoast), co-clerks of Legacy Gift Committee, shared that this was a year of openings and transformations for the Legacy Committee. “Whenever it looked to us like doors were closing, as various aspects of our charge were coming to completion, new openings beckoned.”
Distribution of the last of the Future Fund was completed. The fund had grown over time and lasted longer than expected, but fulfillment of this charge also means the loss of a resource that has made a big difference to individuals and meetings.
Sue and Mary noted that, likely due to COVID, they had a grant cycle with no applications. They understand for other Friends granting organizations that this is not unusual in this time.
New openings include managing requests for the Salem Quarter Fund during the Quarter’s planned sabbatical, and providing the process and discernment for distribution of the new Bodine-Rustin Fund. Each of these felt like an exciting new use of the committee’s knowledge and experience.
Recent grants have helped Dover Friends renovate Dover meetinghouse to support their corporate leading to safely provide sanctuary to immigrants; helped two travelers to attend Cuba Yearly Meeting and celebrate 30 years of Puente; supported David Coletta’s (Fresh Pond, Three Rivers) ministry helping meetings discern whether and how to best incorporate technology into care for worship in this time of COVID. Grants have also helped Briana Halliwell (Vassalboro) to transition to a full-time life of ministry and minimalism on the road in a school bus, Andrew Grant’s (Mt. Toby) land-based inquiry with the intent of accounting for the impacts of settler colonialism on Native Peoples, and Emmy Mathis (Cambridge) to develop and implement a 1.5-year long program “Embodying the Light/Embodying the Beloved Community.”
Mary and Sue concluded, sharing that a subcommittee has been formed to begin considering the expected 2024 review of whether the current use of Legacy Gift funds continues to be where the Yearly Meeting is led to use these monies.
2022-51 Report on the Visit to Cuba Yearly Meeting
Chris Jorgensen (Cambridge) and Rebecca Leuchak (Providence) told us of their visit to Cuba Yearly Meeting’s Sessions along with Mary Hopkins (Fresh Pond) in February 2022.
Our representatives were deeply moved by the spiritual vitality, love, and friendship of our Cuban brothers and sisters. Their generosity was all the more stunning given the challenges that Cubans are currently living under.
There is another group traveling to Cuba later this year. Anyone, especially those of us belonging to meetings with sister relationships with Cuban monthly meetings, are encouraged to investigate the possibility of going. Cuban Friends love to be connected with us, and we are an important part of their spiritual life.
2022-52 Message from the Clerk of Cuba Yearly Meeting
We watched a video greeting from Jorge Luis Peña, presiding clerk of Cuba Yearly Meeting, followed by an English interpretation. Jorge Luis spoke of challenges, such as the widespread impact of a fire at a fuel depot in Matanzas and, on a more personal level, the difficulty of maintaining enthusiasm in the wake of the pandemic. But he spoke with excitement about the opening of a new conference center and the return of an in-person regional youth retreat.
2022-53 Faith and Practice Revision Committee (2nd presentation)
Phebe McCosker (Hanover) presented the changes made to the Faith and Practice chapter on marriage based on comments earlier this week. They will write about sexuality in a separate chapter on “Living a Faithful Life,” where they hope to raise up the ways that Friends today are faithful in their intimate lives.
Changes to the chapter on marriage included expanding the discussion of changing social norms related to sexuality and marriage. The committee has heard powerful yearning from polyamorous Friends for affirmation and acceptance by their faith community, but the Faith and Practice Revision Committee is not a body that can answer that yearning when neither the monthly meetings nor the Yearly Meeting itself has yet grappled with it.
A Friend asked that more help be offered to monthly meetings for those occasions when the clearness committee discerns that either the couple or the meeting is not clear to place the marriage under the care of the meeting. The committee noted the comment.
Friends gave preliminary approval on the main text of the chapter and the notes. The Extracts will be brought for preliminary approval next year.
2022-54 Budget Final Approval
Scot Drysdale (Hanover) presented the budget for final approval, noting that there had been no questions about it at the listening sessions after its first presentation. (See “Approved Budget” on page 25.)
Friends approved the budget.
2022-55 Nomination for Sessions Recording Clerk
Friends approved Megan Jensen as Recording Clerk for 2023–25.
2022-56 Chronos and Kairos
We did not read back all the minutes to the body as has been our practice. As the Clerks’ Table wrestled with feeling unfaithful for presenting so few minutes for approval, one of the Recording Clerks noticed that the time usually dedicated to reading back minutes was dedicated to many other things including noticings, and freeing ourselves from the clock and the traditional forms.
What the Spirit has given us in noticings and in more time for listening and discernment has been a large parcel of gifts for these days.
One of the Recording Clerks shared the following reflection: “The Recording Clerks were ready to read back to you the minutes, but we were given other things from the Spirit to take with us at this time.”
We have approved a few minutes, but the Clerks’ Table will meet to review all the work of the Recording Clerks, and to make corrections of grammar and spelling. Subsequently, the Permanent Board will give final approval to the minutes. Permanent Board meetings are open to all and the minutes will be posted ahead of the meeting.
A Friend asked for special care for the integrity of the process.
Friends approved this minute.
Wednesday Evening
2022-57 Welcome and Open Worship
The Clerk welcomed us to the closing celebration, then again welcomed families with new members, whether by birth, marriage, or otherwise. We settled into ten minutes of “squirmy worship” with the little ones present and active.
2022-58 Youth Programs Epistles
Reading Clerk Adam Kohrman (Beacon Hill) introduced the Epistles from our youth programs: Childcare, Junior Yearly Meeting, Junior High Yearly Meeting, and Young Friends.
Child Care
Rainer Humphries (Hartford), Child Care Coordinator, shared his appreciation for the parents who trusted Child Care with their children. Rainer expressed gratitude to the parents and families for making this program successful. He noted that:
This is the hour for hand washing. This is the hour for your turn on the slide. This is the hour for you to pick the next book, to read again and again and again. This is the hour to paint a picture, or draw, or add stickers to a piece of paper in an artful way. And this is the hour to solve so many puzzles.
JYM, kindergarten to grade 3
Janet Dawson (Northampton) expressed appreciation for the leadership of Kenzie Burpee (Wellesley) with Junior Yearly Meeting. Then she read us the Epistle from the kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-graders.
Gratitude was expressed for finally being able to do things that they were not able to do over Zoom, such as group snacks, singing, tie-dyeing, and capture the flag. They also enjoyed “Bible ten minutes.”
JYM, grades 4–6
The Epistle for grades 4 through 6 was read by River, Gabriel, Hannah, and Alice.
The group described the joy felt at being able to play group games and being able to sing together. Furthermore, they mentioned being able to join the younger JYM group (K through 3) for games such as capture the flag.
Young Friends
Brennon (Providence) read the Epistle from the Young Friends.
The Young Friends Epistle included some of their concerns with the New England Quaker community: that our Letter of Apology to Native Americans was more about resolving our guilt than about seeking change and restorative justice, and that our community centers a Christian interpretation of Spirit which creates a barrier to Friends who have come to us without a background of Christian theology and language. They recognized the grief that our community faces, and reminded us that the way to find comfort is to walk with grief and seek ways of addressing its root causes.
The Presiding Clerk noted that this Epistle was ministry and should be received with reflection.
2022-59 BIPOC Report
Michelle Wright (Putney), Reading Clerk, read a report written by Emma Turcotte (Beacon Hill), BIPOC Opportunities Coordinator. She organized and facilitated spaces and opportunities for BIPOC attendees: a welcoming before the beginning of Sessions, a multi-purpose gathering space, and intentional gatherings during Sessions, all of them available both virtually and in person. Individuals were given the opportunity to say, “As a Friend of color, I am feeling (fill in the blank) in anticipation of the rest of Sessions this week.” The offerings were well attended, sharing was deep, and Friends noticed a sense of connection and familiarity.
2022-60 Home Group Coordinator’s Message
Fran Brokaw (Hanover), Home Group Coordinator, described the home groups which met this week both online and on campus. Many people expressed great joy in being together, though some found it overwhelming to have so much socializing after three years of isolation. The discussion of the Bible Half-Hour in the home groups provided a recurrent focus of attention and intimate spiritual exchange.
Fran expressed gratitude for the facilitators.
2022-61 Events Coordinator’s Report
Elizabeth Hacala, Yearly Meeting Events Manager, told us that planning for Sessions this year required “a healthy disregard for the impossible” as well as faith that Way would open.
Two different and concurrent Sessions were planned, one on campus and one online, and then woven together in a grace-filled unity. We had about 350 Friends here in Castleton and 167 among us virtually. A few staff have had to go home sick, but there have been zero cases of COVID on campus this week. Masking was definitely worth it, even in 90o heat. Elizabeth gave thanks to all of the people involved in the planning.
2022-62 Expressions of Thanks
The Presiding Clerk recognized the invaluable work of the tech team for making this hybrid gathering work, and for the interpretation team’s striving for language justice.
He asked Noah Merrill, Yearly Meeting Secretary, to stand and accept our love and thanks.
2022-63 Second Reading of the Epistle
Jean Rosenberg (Middlebury), Judy Anne Williams (Hanover), and Robert Dove McClellan (Fresh Pond) read the Yearly Meeting Epistle with revisions based on comments received earlier.
Friends approved the Epistle, with minor corrections.
2022-64 Clerk’s Closing Reflections
Presiding Clerk Bruce Neumann expressed his joy at having had the opportunity to work closely with the Yearly Meeting office staff and with the rest of the Clerks’ Table, as well as the Noticing Patterns of Oppression and Faithfulness Working Group and the Right Relationship Working Group.
He introduced Megan Jensen (Monadnock) as one of the new Recording Clerks and Rebecca Leuchak (Providence), Rising Clerk.
Reminding us of the 2020 Sessions theme, the first in Bruce’s clerkship, the outgoing and the rising Presiding Clerks led us in singing “Row On.” Rebecca presented Bruce with a paddle decorated with that year’s logo with the worlds “Row on. There’s dawn beyond the night,” and “For Bruce Neumann in gratitude for many years of service in our Friends community and for your steady rowing as Presiding Clerk of New England Yearly Meeting from August 2019 to August 2022.”
2022-65 Final Closing
Our new Presiding Clerk, Rebecca Leuchak, offered a closing prayer.
I hear the voice of the Divine roaring in our ears. There is much work to be done. I see a path forward, a future that we are called to create, and I wonder what things we might accomplish if we truly listen to the Divine.
Friends closed the 362nd Yearly Meeting Annual Sessions in worship, proposing to meet again at Castleton University on August 5, 2023.
A Friend left us with the words, “Parting is not parting. It is simply moving our bodies, but our spirits are still together.”
Thursday Morning
2022-66 Concluding Bible Half-Hour
This year those gathered at Castleton were asked to vacate our rooms soon after breakfast and before our last gathering. With all business concluded, we met again one last time for Bible Half-Hour and open worship.
Throughout the week, Regina Renee’s Bible Half-Hours fed our discernment and reinforced our willingness to listen to one another as we considered items of business. She was ill on Thursday and could not join us for this last meeting, but faithful to her leading, she had left for us the materials she had prepared. Through the week, she had delivered her message with enough power and clarity that Friends were able to take her materials and run the Bible Half-Hour in her absence, guiding us to sit with the queries and respond to the Bible readings she had selected. This proved to be the fitting culmination of her work and a sign of her faithfulness as we felt Spirit speaking through her teaching even in her absence.
This final presentation looked back at the lessons we had heard through the week:
- Miriam’s readiness to observe from a distance and then to intervene when needed
- Samuel’s youthful and eager listening to the voice of God
- Eli’s tired and formalistic dispatch of priestly duties without calling the wrongdoers to task, and willingness to accept God’s judgment
- Solomon’s willingness to ask for wisdom
- The lessons about “spiritual speed limits”: to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger
- The lesson about “spiritual minimum speed limits” and the urgency to speed up our listening capabilities at a time when young people and people of color may be leaving the Society of Friends in frustration when we’re too slow to hear the call of justice
Regina Renee, with her relentless enthusiasm for reading the Bible, fed our worship and discernment through the week. Her Bible Half-hours reinforced our willingness to listen to one another and our sense of urgency to notice patterns of oppression and faithfulness.
After the review, we were left with those queries that had been so helpful throughout the week:
What are you led to?
What are we led to?
How does the Spirit find you?
Those gathered were favored with a renewed sense of urgency and with clear and doable guidelines for moving forward, as well as clear and unambiguous warnings about the costs of not moving forward.